*** Duke Robillard

DANGEROUS PLACE

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Duke Robillard's ascent from Roomful of Blues founder to international guitar star has included the absorption of every style of post-'20s six-string popular music. Here his virtuoso inclinations slant toward '50s blues, jazz, rock, and boogie. "Going Straight" is a T-Bone Walker-inspired blues. "Can't Remember To Forget" sounds like Fats Domino's lost follow-up to "Blueberry Hill." "No Time" is a Chicago blues stomper, "Don't Get Me Shook Up" an Elmore James slider. And "Black Negligee" swings pretty and light, colored by Robillard's angelic fingerwork on his acoustic archtop guitar. In fact, it's his archtop work, showcased here, that catches him at his delicate, inventive best. Yet it's the songs, not the playing, that remain the focus.

-- Ted Drozdowski